We've made it to the last reveal of the year under the Literature theme. As you may remember, I narrowed it down to Fairy Tales.
So without further ado, here is my latest Mini Art Quilt.
Do you know the story of
The Brave Little Tailor? I've always thought it was a rather interesting story. Perhaps he should really be called the Cheeky Little Tailor, I mean, really, He kills 7 flies at once and goes out to take on the world? Giants, Boars and Unicorns? But I guess that is the magic of a fairy tale, anything can happen.
As you can see I made a fly swatter with Seven Smushed flies. In the story that I linked above, the tailor apparently used a piece of cloth to swat them, which relates a bit better to us sewists, however the fly swatter is a pretty ubiquitous illustration.
The flies are made of felt ovals and plastic cut from a Ziploc bag for the wings.
One of my main goals with these quilts has been to tell the story without putting the title on the quilt. For the quilting on this one, I used key phrases to tell the story:
the brave little tailor story
strawberry jam yum
flies buzz zz
smack all dead
make a belt
see the world
cheese bird
tree cave
outwit giants
kills giants
captures a unicorn
captures a wild boar
marries a princess
I usually don't wash my mini quilts. But I had marked this one up pretty good so it really needed it. I took the above picture before washing, just in case I ruined it.
The rest of the pictures are after washing.
As usual, my mini finishes at 12"x12".
Make sure you follow the links to see others' interpretations of literature this quarter.
8 comments:
Rachel, how fun! Before reading further I was reading "Seven at One Below" and could not figure out where it was going (thank goodness cataract surgery is set for tomorrow!). And then it all came together - "Blow"!!! You are so good at using non-traditional props like the plastic wings - love them! and the swatter grid is just perfect. Great notes, too, on this little book and the reminder that yes, in fairy tales anything can happen - sometimes in life, too! Good work!
This one makes me smile, your quilted the flies in! It is a great little quilt.
Lots to look at and consider- the flies and their wings, the swatter stitching and the quilting stitches too! Great execution Rachel!
I was smiling as I started to read this and then REALLY smiling when I read that you constructed the wings out of ziplock bags--you are the best at using regular stuff in inventive ways. And that quilting! Oh, my. You are amazing. I have loved all of your series of fairy tale quilts, and the way you've interpreted them. What a great group of mini quilts!
It's been such fun seeing all your quilts and the inspired and skillful way you use non-traditional materials to completely capture the feeling of the stories you've illustrated. They must be very tactile and I wish I could see them in the flesh!
Your quilt illustration of 7 flies in 1 blow is wonderful. I love your creative solution to giving the flies wings! I will never look at my zip-lock bags the same again. You came up with a fantastic way to include key phrases from the story in the background text. Did you draw them in first with a disappearing ink pen? I'd love to see all 4 of your quilts next to each other in a post:)
I love your creativity. This is a fun quilt to read about.
A great little quilt. The quilting of the text is amazing. (Something I have not tried yet.) So much included to tell the viewer your message.
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